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October 8, 2008 |
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01. Weapons To Tame A Land
02. Something Sinister
03. Goat Sodomy
04. Neighbourcide
05. One Dead Nation Under Dead God
06. For Those Who Have Fallen
07. Leucorrhea
08. Kut
09. This Castrated World
10. Psykosis
11. Contempt
12. I Wage War
13. Cancer
14. Hate - Despise - Arrogance
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It's entirely possible that nothing on God's green earth sounds quite as relentless and unforgiving as the sonic mayhem enclosed within an IMPALED NAZARENE recording. No other band has such a nuclear-level hate-on against everything that is good, and green, and Christian in the world as these guys, and no other band translates such unforgiving, teeth-gnashing vitriol into the musical medium of Metal as they do either. I mean really...who else sounds so...so coldly razor-sharp and precise? So genuinely angry? So...so damned nasty as this? No-one except IMPALED NAZARENE, that's who. Take their latest release for the equally uncompromising curmudgeons at Osmose, namely "Pro Patria Finlandia" (something like, the band's 12th release or thereabouts if I'm not mistaken), a Speed/Black/Thrash Metal piece de resistance as an example which proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that IMPALED NAZARENE have not mellowed with age at all. Not even close.
Ever dogged with controversy due to their unwavering, tongue-planted-firmly-in-cheek commitment to only the filthiest and most mean-spirited lyrical odes to not-niceness, IMPALED NAZARENE (who, by the way include SlutI666 (aka the infamous Mikka Luttinen) - vox, Tuomio - guitars, Onraj 9mm - guitars, Arc V 666 - bass, and Repe Misanthrope - drums) have seemingly invited the ire of the European politically correct this time around due to cover art which in conjunction with the album's title have been deemed as overtly nationalistic in nature, in some countries resulting in press bans, censorship, and unsuccessful attempts to halt touring. In truth, the band apparently meant to convey nothing more than simple national pride in a historical scene depicting the victorious aftermath of Finland's battle for independence against Russia, as well as a personal love for Finlandia vodka. Go figure. I guess some people out there are "offense kleptomaniacs": if there's an offense out there that isn't nailed down then by God they'll take it! Idiots!
Personally, after numerous listens to the scathing Metal onslaught of "Pro Patria Finlandia" the only offense I can imagine this album causing would be to the ears of those who thrive upon false, wimpy, limp-wristed Metal, for this 14-track assault upon the senses is undoubtedly a firm middle-digit salute to those vanilla-souled weaklings, and a righteous, spiked-'n-leathered fist in the chops of everyone else who fails to realize the inherent power of a face-sanding riff, or blistering dual-lead attack to boot!
Picking up more or less from the smoking stylistic battlefields left in the wake of such previous releases as 2001's "Absence Of War Does Not Mean Peace", and last year's "All That You Fear", "Pro Patria Finlandia" is a merciless slab of hatred forged in Speed/Black Metal fires and hammered into life upon an anvil of black-hearted, TURBONEGRO-style Punk-influenced Thrash. In other words there's lots of screaming, breakneck guitars, and blastbeats aplenty throughout, not to mention a studied ear for simple, yet effectively hooky riffs and tastefully discordant, melodic leads. Pretty much every track on offer here seethes and pulsates with red-eyed, rye-soaked hate, be it the caustic opener "Weapons To Tame A Land", the pounding dual salvo of "Something Sinister", and "Goat Sodomy", and of course personal faves "One Dead Nation Under Dead God" with its infectiously hooky chorus, and the absolutely blistering anthem that is "For Those Who Have Fallen" with it's memorable central riff and incredible leads.
At the end of the day IMPALED NAZARENE have once again done what they do best, that is producing yet another album of spine-snapping Thrashy, Blackened Speed Metal both better, and with more charisma than pretty much any other band of their ilk currently in operation. Admittedly, like peers MARDUK, they do suffer somewhat from what is either an unwillingness, or perhaps straight-up inability to change tempo often enough to give the listener's psyche a much-needed respite, and yes, as far as riffs are concerned they do at times lapse into a certain repetitive, if hook-laden "sameyness" that makes anonymous filler of some tracks, but again…for the most part they are doing what they do about as well as it can be done, and that my friends is a good thing indeed. So if this sort of Thrashy, Blackened Speed Metal be your particular beaker of hydrochloric acid, then by all means look no further, for both IMPALED NAZARENE and "Pro Patria Finlandia" are just what your psychotic doctor has ordered and they'll scour both your body and soul from the inside out!!!
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